Eemmi£itentes{ 



of 




ot Contufticut 

Xatc United ^tateiS Senator 



||i£{ earl? life 




REMINISCENCES 



OF THE 



Childhood, Boyhood, and Youthful Days of 
Connedlicut's "Favorite Son" 

ORVILLE H. PLATT 

Late United States Senator 

By an old Playmate, Schoolmate, Fellow 
Townsman, and Friend 

STANLEY G. FOWLER 



Also an Original Poem, entitled 

"YE OLDEN TIME IN THE LAND 
OF STEADY HABITS" 






LIBRARY of CONGRESS 

Two Copies Received 

NOV 2 1906 

K. Copyright Entry , 
'WO-, J./JOIb 
CUSS A XXcNo, 

COPY B. 



COPYRIGHT 1906 

BY 

STANLEY G. FOWLER 




UNITED STATES SENATOR ORVILLE H. PLATT 

{\ti MANHOOD'a PHIME) 




REMINISCENCES 



OF THE 



€arlp ILik of Wi. ^. Senator $latt 



OF CONNECTICUT 

By STANLEY G. FOWLER 

Of course I knew Orville H. Piatt intimately in the 
good old town of Washington, Litchfield County, Conn., 
where both of us were born and raised. But always as 
plain Orville, while he never addressed the writer but by 
his first name, and this mutual custom we never varied 
from. When, after years of honorable patient endeavor, 
he assumed, by right of superior merit, the dignity of a 
United States vSenatorship, it was no lack of appreciation 
of his exalted rank that deterred me from addressing 
him as Senator, but simply because I had called him 
"Orville" and nothing else all my life, and the " Mr." 
was similarly absent whenever he wrote or spoke to me. 
The familiarity of early years, spontaneous and hearty, 
strengthened and brightened our friendlv relations 
through manhood to old age. That 1 had example and 
precept for a free and easy style in our correspondence 



is evidenced in a letter written me in 1889, which began 
as follows: "My dear Stanley — so I call you, for my 
boyhood acquaintance can never be to me anything dif- 
ferent from what he was then," etc. 

Orville was always a friend to any one he liked 
(whether he deserved it or not), and his lasting affection 
made him the beloved vpar excellence) of all who were 
fortunate enough to win his regard. 

ll?is llBirtl) anJ) paifntagr. 

Orville H. Piatt was born in Washington (its primi- 
tive name "Judea"), Connecticut, in 1827 — about a 
year in advance of the writer. My father was the family 
physician, and, of course, was present on that auspicious 
occasion. The infant was healthy and in time became a 
robust lad, straight and tall for his years, attaining a 
height of six feet four inches before he concluded to stop 
growing. His brother Simeon (younger) was of more 
delicate build and is still living in Torrington, one of 
the oldest towns in the State. 

The father of Orville, Daniel Piatt, was a man of fine 
face and figure, intelligent, kindly, and courteous. He 
was an excellent citizen and took a prominent part in 
town activities and religious meetings. He spoke fre- 
quently on such occasions and always had something to 
say and said it modestly and in a convincing way. 

About that time the abolition movement began to ex- 
cite factious disturbance in this and other communities. 
Parson Hayes, a good old-fashioned Puritan of the Cal- 
vinistic type, out-Heroded even the Southerners in his 
defense of negro slavery. It was a divine institution, 
especially created for the benefit of slaves and owner's 
alike. "Servants obey your masters" was a favorite text, 
and he argued therefrom that the manifest duty of the 



enslaved was to yield a blind unquestioning obedience to 
the slave holder. When that sweet voiced and saintly 
Quaker lady, Abby Kelly, came to lecture in her quiet, 
unobtrusive way upon the wrongs and sufferings of the 
oppressed black man. Parson Hayes denounced her from 
the pulpit as a Jezebel, unworthy even of social recog- 
nition. Her only reply as he walked into the exit hall 
when leaving the church was, "May God forgive you, Mr. 
Hayes, as freely as I do." 

To Daniel Piatt such doctrines and sentiments were 
abhorrent, so he, with John Gunn, a brother of Fred- 
erick \V. Gunn, who established the "Gunnery" (a cele- 
brated educational institution of which Holland has 
written so pleasantly in his "Arthur Bonnycastle"), 
William Leavitt and others absented themselves from 
the Sunday services. For this heresy they were brought 
to task before Parson Hayes' faithful tribunal (he had 
a strong following) and were formally excommunicated. 
It was not so long after, however, when Parson Hayes 
himself was ousted by a majority vote of church mem- 
bers, and his place ("no lineal heir of his succeeding") 
filled by another less obnoxious clergyman. 

The whole town was in a ferment of abolition excite- 
ment. Orville, like the rest of us boys, heard much, said 
little, and didn't know what to believe until the pathetic 
story of "Uncle Tom" captured the hearts if not the 
consciences of all its readers. That was the primal source 
from which the idea of emancipation developed — the pre- 
cursor of the civil war. With the banishment of Parson 
Hayes from the scenes of many years of conscientious 
labor — and a more worthy, high-minded man, and God- 
fearing, and serving Christian minister (as he understood 
his calling), never Hved — the "negro pew" in the gallery 
of the meeting hou.se was abolished, and its usual occu- 
pants (as they couldn't or wouldn't sit among "white 



folks"), were compelled to get their religion at occa- 
sional Methodist camp meetings or wherever else it was 
most convenient. 

3EI)f iJlBothrr of *!Prt)illf 

was a stately, handsome woman, cjuiet in manner, pru- 
dent in speech, but positive in her convictions. She 
seldom mingled in social gatherings, but found her 
greatest pleasure in the simple home life, attending to 
her domestic duties, reading the vScriptures, and teach- 
ing her boys by precept and example the virtues of 
goodness, charity, sobriety, and whatever else contri- 
buted to the development of sturdy, self-reliant manhood. 
In all the e.ssentials of wise character-building she was 
never lacking. Her influence was that of a devoted, in- 
telligent, broad-minded, noble-hearted mother, and as 
such she was respected and loved by her dutiful sons. 
The impress she left upon Orville's mind was whole- 
some and lasting. She was ever a living memorj- in his 
heart and he never spoke of her except in terms of 
reverent affection. She was withal an excellent house- 
wife, baked her own bread, made her own butter (deli- 
cious and golden), and kept the wearing apparel of 
father and sons as well as her own in excellent condition. 
Farmers' wives had to zvori- in those days, and Mrs. Piatt 
never shirked her self-allotted task, but with cheerful 
alacrity looked after every detail of thorough housekeep- 
ing. Her kitchen, dining and sitting room (the "parlor" 
was a later innovation ) were always cleanly and inviting. 
That she was a model housekeeper, without fuss or as- 
sumption of superiority, everybody conceded. 



\ 



7 

SDotng iLtttlr 15ov OToiU. 

I remember one summer day, when a small boy, help- 
ing Orville assist his father in some farm work. Very 
little help we were, our principal task being the burning 
of a pile of brush in a corner of the field, and that was 
what we really enjoyed. Then, when weary, came the 
washing of hands and faces in a basin by the spring and 
then sitting down at the kitchen table in straight-backed 
cane-bottomed chairs to a sumptuous meal of slices of 
sweet home-cured pork, potatoes, and other vegetables, 
with pure spring water (no coffee or tea), finishing up 
with a marvelously compounded mince pie. I could not 
and can not now' imagine or recall any meal more nicely 
adapted and satisfying to the appetites of a pair of 
hungry urchins. The only drawback -was the "grace be- 
fore meat," which was much too long to suit our im- 
patient craving for immediate food, but that was an 
indispensible preliminary to every meal, and w'e sub- 
mitted because we had to, whether willing or not. 

3D^c parfntal ll?omr. 

This was a two-storied, white structure about a mile 
from town, facing easterly, a pleasant 3'ard in front en- 
closing shrubbery and the inevitable lilac bushes, the 
earliest harbingers of a New England spring. It was 
situated on a high plateau sloping to the roadwaj- and 
thence to a ravine through which purled a rivulet that 
crossed the road farther down, affording a favorite drink- 
ing place for horses in single or double harness. On the 
north was the garden patch, and west, the farm, small- 
sized and stony, requiring assiduous labor to exploit 
whatever good qualities it possessed. The roadway pass- 
ing by the house made a circuit west of north through 
an avenue flanked by chestnut trees, then turning to the 



right came to the house of Eluathan Mitchell, a brother 
of the famous scientist, Professor Mitchell, of North 
Carolina, who was greatly beloved and esteemed by the 
people of that State, and who lost his life exploring the 
highest peak of the Blue Ridge, which now bears his 
honored name. 

Not far hence was the home of good old Deacon Pun- 
derson, who could, and generally did at the Sunday 
meetings, quote entire chapters of Scripture, anywhere 
from Matthew to Revelations. Still farther on was the 
home of Francis H. Smith, a hard-working farmer's son, 
who for many years past has been one of the leading 
bankers, real estate and insurance men of the Capital city, 
and whose recent sudden death (at this very home he 
was visiting) , has clouded the hearts of his surviving 
family and friends with grief. His career as a business 
man was successful as that of Orville in the political 
field. Both were closely allied by ties of warm, true, 
brotherly comradeship. 

C-Oufattonal #pportunitirs. 

Orville did not attend school summers because he was 
needed at home, but all his leisure time he gave to the 
perusal of whatever books could be had that were worthy 
of attention, and such books of history, fiction, science, 
philosophy he studied with scrupulous care, and remem- 
bered what he read. His mind became a storehouse of 
much that was useful, interesting, suggestive, and valu- 
able to him in later years, for he digested and assimilated 
the best that really good books could impart. His educa- 
tion consequently was by no means neglected during 
intervals of work in the long days of summer. The 
acquaintances of his father and mother were also in- 
variably of a superior class, and he had the advantage of 



listening to the discussion of political topics of the clay 
by cultivated and intellectual men and at times took part 
in them, being encouraged on all occasions to freely speak 
his thoughts and ask for such information as he wanted 
on any subject presented. 

With the commencement of winter, Orville and Simeon 
could have been seen traveling through the snow with 
satchels in hand, containing school books and luncheon, 
to the old academy near the Meeting House on the village 
green. 

Of the different .studies pursued, Orville's preference 
was arithmetic, algebra, and mathematics. He was also 
fond of history, ancient and modern, and geography. In 
all these he excelled. He did not .study the languages, 
but was no less correct in his phrasing, accurate in pro- 
nunciation and choice in his English than those who 
presumably had enjoyed superior facilities. Like Lincoln, 
he acquired a profound knowledge of words and their 
uses, and in later years could and did arrange them in a 
manner best calculated to impress, conciliate, or convince 
his hearers. 

He never violated any of the school rules (no matter 
what the temptation), it being evident to the rest of us 
that he was seriously bent on making the most of his 
opportunities. He was a handsome fellow, having large 
dark ej'es with long lashes, and a comely, though at that 
immature time a rather ungainly figure. I remember 
how, as seated at a desk directly behind him, I envied 
him the black, glossy curls that flowed down over his 
neck and shoulders. As the writer of " compositions " 
on various topics given out by the teacher, he was origi- 
nal, concise, and strong — more logical and argumenta- 
tive than literary in style and treatment. His papers 
were always successful and elicited well deserved praise. 



10 

Uougl) auD UraDv ]tioittliful S>poits. 

At intennissioii, when the boys with gleeful shouts 
bulged out of doors, there came the sliding down hill on 
shoes and sleds, or the more exciting rough and tumble 
contests in the snow. Of course, Orville was in every 
scrimmage. Many a tumble has he given me, though he 
has gotten quite as many in return. In these snow bouts 
there was plentiful exercise and much fun. 

" Mirth that wrinkled care derides, 
And laughter holding both his sides." 

Baseball was even then an interesting game, though 
not so exacting and intricate as now. Orville was a good 
runner and catcher, and when it came to striking a ball, 
he lunged at it with terrific force. If he hit the sphere 
it soared skyward. But quite as likely he missed, and 
his long arms and legs were so incongruously mixed that 
the bystander had to look sharp that //^ didn't get knocked 
out. At such critical moments most of us gave him the 
benefit of a respectful distance. 

In a football game (though a youth verging on man- 
hood, but not there yet) Orville was a towering, domi- 
nating figure. Sometimes he could be tripped up or out- 
generaled, but once under way with the ball in advance, 
he followed it with the tempestuous force of an avalanche. 
If one foot missed, the other was landed. If both feet 
kicked wide, then his arms and hands came into play. 
Like Briareus, he seemed to have a hundred arms; like 
an octopus, as many projecting feelers. 

Cmrial Utrhiug auD 31umping. 

I remember, in our last game, attempting to oppose 
his mad career. He was rushing the ball furiously to the 
goal. I managed to get before him to check his advance 



11 

and divert the ball from its direct course. No use. Or- 
ville sped on with the momentum of a locomotive. His 
last kick hit the ball squarely, sending it over to Gersham 
Fenn's fence, while with the same impact his knee caught 
me between the legs hurling me over a ditch in the same 
direction. I was dazed for a few moments, and all the 
more discomfited when I heard the merry laugh of a 
group of pretty girls in General Briusmade's yard who 
were looking on and rather enjoying my sorry plight. 

Nor is It humiliating for me to recall another defeat 
at his hands, or rather feet, when we had reached the stat- 
ure of callow youth — mustache and beard j ust beginningto 
sprout. I rather prided myself on my jumping prowess. 
With some satisfaction I set the mark of eleven feet for 
a standing jump. None of the other fellows could beat 
that or even approach it until Orville came into the 
fracas, and after coolly looking over the situation, braced 
himself, threw his long legs into the air and landed twelve 
feet from the point of departure. I was astounded, and 
like the famous frog of Calaveras when loaded with 
buckshot, I declined to make another effort. 

Orville was always fair and square in all our boy games 
and if he accidentally kicked, stepped on, or rolled over 
anybody he was as sorry as his limping or disabled com- 
petitor could be. 

iln CBbmpicaghtg Uctiosprct. 

Orville not only realized all the happiness incident to 
youthful health, strength, and capacity for enjoyment, 
but in later years recalled with the liveliest pleasure 
those days which, by many men in the turmoil, care and 
strife of middle age are scarcely remembered if not 
wholly forgotten. In November, 1894, on his return from 
a home visit he writes (i7tter alias) to me in Chicago: 



12 



" My heart is much in the past, and the pleasures and 
joys of the early times unrecognized then as such, stand 
out in relief now. Perhaps it is an indication that I am 
growing old, but it surely seems to me now that I have 
never found any place to compare with 'Old Judea,' and 
no experiences of the present are to be compared with 
the incidents of life there. I know that I did not enjoy 
my life then and there so much— that I had unsatisfied 
longings and great expectations, but looking back I 
know and feel that I should have enjoyed every moment 
of my boyhood. I enjoy it now at any rate. It seems 
real to me now as in the old days. It seems as if all the 
people whom we knew were there still, all the boys we 
played with, and all the girls we (or I) bashfully ad- 
mired. I can't make it seem true that most of them have 
gone out of sight, and that the few who remain are gray, 
bent, and tottering down to the end. So I like to reproduce 
the life as it was." . . . "When I go back to my 
old home, which I do only at long intervals, I find every- 
thing changed except those things which are unchange- 
able — sky, earth, and air — and it makes me sad. I want 
to get away by the river or into the woods. . 
vStill, notwithstanding all the changes, I can't help feel- 
ing that I should like to have a little house there with 
garden spot and pig-pen and chicken-coop and go back 
and finish life where I began it. But I shall not. I shall 
work on till the time comes and then go quickly. I fully 
expect to drop in the harness somewhere, rather than 
be turned out to pasture. ... I don't worry about 
growing old. I am going to be ever young in heart any 
way." 



13 

1 dont believe Orville could ' ' turn a tune ' ' to save 
his life. At least I never heard of his singing in private 
or public. When we were boys the pipe organ, with 
its trumpet and alternating flute notes and its rumbling 
thunder tones, was unknown. The meeting-house choir 
was composed of treble and second (no " contralto " and 
"alto"! by volunteer female voices, and tenor and 
bass by young and middle aged men, each trying to 
drown the other with a zeal more vociferous than tune- 
ful. Still, their united efforts were imbued with a truly 
devotional spirit and the choral effect was impressive and 
absorbed the undivided attention of all listeners. Good 
old Anthony Smith, leader, with his bass viol, was an 
innovation endured rather than tolerated by some of the 
church members, one old lady absenting herself from 
service for the alleged reason that she "knew the Lord 
did not approve of fiddling in his holy temple." Hymns 
of the classic Puritanic type, like " All Hail the Power 
of Jesus Name" and the " Doxology," stirred a devo- 
tional fervor in the hearts of all, and we doubt if Or- 
ville or any of us boys ever forgot in later years either 
their words or music. 

Patriotism, next to godliness, held a high place in 
Orville's esteem. Never was there anything more glori- 
ous and inspiring in his opinion than the grand choral 
performance (everybody .singing) of that splendid na- 
tional anthem, "America.". 

s!9cmon5ing aiiD *©tl)cr SCraits. 

I don't think Orville forgot a word or incident he 
wished to remember, or what pleasantly or otherwise 
left an impress on his mind. One evening (when boys) 
we were at the Brinsmade house for a call. The ladies 



14 

sang and pla5'ed the piano. I thrummed the guitar, 
then, as a beginner, and on request sang a foolish little 
song that I have never thought of since. Judge of my 
surprise, when in the Senator's rooms at the Arlington 
the year before he died, he requested me to repeat the 
song I once rendered in his presence more than fifty 
years previous. When I said I had forgotten both the 
song and words referred to, he began: "Oh, Tom's 
a youth of talents rare," etc., and repeated the entire 
lot of verses, verbatim, greatly to my surprise and 
amusement. 

But aside from such trivialities he had a wonderful 
faculty' for memorizing what was useful for him to remem- 
ber and never to forget. Thus when commencing to study 
law in the office of Gideon H. Hollister, of Litchfield, 
he recited from memory the long and splendidly written 
opening chapter of the immortal Blackstone, word for 
word, without a break or blemish from beginning to end. 
That was no inconsiderable feat for a young and inex- 
perienced student, and it greatly surprised his instructor. 

iT»rcastonaUv ifarrtious. 

Orville was not without a keen perception of the humor- 
ous even in later years when not more seriously engaged 
in the consideration of political problems of national im- 
port I take the liberty of quoting from one of his 
letters to the writer which commences in a charming 
vein as follows: 

" I have got to put you off with a typewritten letter. 
For if I waited until I can, as the Apostle Paul says, 
• With mine own hand write you a letter,' I am afraid 
you won't get it, and I want to answer yours of Novem- 
ber ninth. I have not baited bears to any considerable 
extent; I have not hunted for deer and I have not fished 
trout all this summer. I spent considerable time in the 



Adiroudacks, parti}' sitting on a log whittling, building 
a little addition to my camp or putting mj- elbows on my 
knees and holding my head in my hands. I had a good 
deal of rest, plenty of sleep, and a deal of loneliness. 
That sums up my recreation for the summer. Since my 
return (to Meriden) I have been as busy as a bee with 
no time to think," etc. 

past anD prrsrnt CuUnarv sBrthoDS. 

In closing the same letter he thus contrasts the modern 
style of cookery witli that of the good old-fashioned way 
in Connecticut which makes the mouths of her sons 
everywhere moisten to think about. 

"You can not excite any sympathy in my breast by 
telling how you had to peel potatoes and cook your own 
meals. If you had said wash dishes you might have been 
pitied, but the cooking part is fuu. I claim to be a good 
cook myself, not of the later style where taste and relish 
is sacrificed to appearances, but in the good old-fashioned 
way which we used to enjoy in Litchfield County. I do 
not believe that things taste as good to the young people 
now as they did to us in the early days. I have dis- 
covered that table adornment and esthetic dishes are 
supposed to constitute the culmination of epicurean art. 
But when I'see a mutton chop tricked out with a paper 
handle and a fringe on it, I long for the good old days 
when we killed our own lambs and ate them up with a 
gusto which the world is never again to realize. I am 
an old fogy I suppose, but being so it is a great consola- 
tion to know that you are another. ' ' 

SLrarlirs S>cl30ol ant) tmrnrs. 

The season of 1847 Orville spent in the capacity of 
assistant teacher of a school (in Towanda ) to Frederick 
\V. Gunn. During his stay he was engaged to Miss 



16 

Annie Bull, whom he married later on. Their son (an 
only child), James Piatt, has won prominence and 
prestige as a lawyer and is now Judge of the United 
States District Court of Connecticut. He resides at the 
parental home iu Meriden. His mother, Orville's wife 
Annie, passed over in November, l893i and in one of his 
letters the sorrowing husband thus feelingly alludes to 
that event; 

' ' Forty-three years of life have passed into memory. It 
has been, still is, hard to accustom myself to the change. 
Hard to catch on again, or to feel that anything is left 
for me, but waiting for my time to come. I try to meet 
things as a courageous man should but I can not get 
above the feeling that henceforth I must plod on alone." 

After their return to Washington, the year following, 
Mr. Gunn took charge of the "Gunnery" he made so 
successful, and Orville started for Meriden to practice law. 
The last time I met him prior to his departure was in the 
village store when he told me he intended to enter the 
field of politics as soon as practicable. I supposed at the 
time it was a bit of bravado on his part and never 
dreamed he aspired to be a United .States Senator. I 
wished him success, we shook hands and parted. 

When a few years after in Chicago I learned of his 
being sent to the State legislature, then made speaker of 
that body, then elected State .senator, it certainly looked 
as if he was on the upward and onward path to high 
political distinction. It was only after a comparatively 
short interval he was chosen United States Senator, a 
position he held up to the time of his death, with infinite 
credit to himself and honor to his constituency and the 
nation. 



17 

ins Ucrlrrtion to a 2Dl)iiD 2Lfnn. 

This was in the nature of a stupendous, overwhehning 
triumph. In Orville's case the record was broken. Con- 
necticut had never before elected a United States Senator 
for a full third term. Though naturally much pleased 
with the result, he was by no means exultant or vain 
glorious. In a letter (February 19, 1901 ) he thus modestly 
refers to the subject; 

"I think the only real satisfaction I derive from it, 
comes from the pleasure it gives to my friends, and the 
fact that there was not one Republican in the legislature 
(I might almost say in the vState), who would listen a 
moment to anything else being done. I am sure it was 
not the result of my self-seeking, for really and truly I 
would prefer to have gone home to private life and tried 
to obtain a livelihood by practicing law, but it was not 
to be." 

" I am sure I don't know what I have done to deserve 
all this. I have simply done the best I could under the 
circumstances. I think there is a scriptural te.Kt .some- 
where in which Christ says of a woman, ' She hath done 
what she could.' Po.ssibly my New Testament knowl- 
edge is not very accurate; but / have never had an> 
other motive. I have not been ambitious in the ordinary 
sense. I have patiently tried to do what there was to be 
done, sometimes under adverse circumstances, feeling 
handicapped all the while by the want of a more complete 
' early education and by poverty. ... I only want 
to go on, while I have the strength, doing what there is 
for me to do as well as I can, and whether it is here or 
elsewhere, in the Senate or in some cpiiet cabin by the 
way, makes no difference." 



ll)is CxaltrD Cljaiactfi. 

The foregoing exemplifies, far better than ray feeble 
pen can portray, the sterling nobility of his nature. His 
ideals were ever praiseworthy and elevating. He never 
stooped to building or repairing political fences. His 
official goal, when attained, represented additional duties 
to be performed, and not a point of vantage for personal 
aggrandisement. In all he planned and accomplished, 
he was never influenced by selfish, much less sordid con- 
siderations. He was ever the upright, manh' man, actu- 
ated by a determined purpose to do right, because that 
was the o\Ay right thing for him to do. He never even 
sought preferment, but when it came to him uninvited he 
regarded it as a token of confidence, establishing a 
superior claim on the best he could give in return. Dur- 
ing his career in the Senate he held many positions of 
responsibility and trust. As chairman of various com- 
mittees he displayed a sagacity and foresight that was 
the admiration of his colleagues. Such legislation as he 
was chiefly instrumental in formulating, almost invari- 
ably stood the test of criticism, and was approved with 
few, if any, dissenting votes. 

One of the most important measures of his early career 
was the enactment of the International Copyright Law. 
In a letter of February, '91. he writes: 

". . . I have just been having a fearful struggle to get 
an international copyright law passed in the Senate, not 
that I was wildly interested in it, but because it came 
before a committee of which I am a member. The report 
of it was committed to me, and that made me its cham- 
pion, and I had to fight in its defense. I think I be- 
lieved all that I said in its favor, Init was rather in the 
situation of the man who has a firm belief in the truths 



19 

of Christianity hut not enough experience to conduct a 
prayer meeting in good shape," etc. 

political anO personal j?iirnDS. 

It can be truthfully said of Orville H. Piatt that he 
did net have an enemy among his associates in that 
honorable body — the U. S. Senate. As a man he was 
looked up to as an exemplar of fair dealing and upright 
conduct. As a statesman he ranked — if not "primus inter 
pares," an equal at least — among the ablest, wisest, and 
best of their number. One noteworthy and admirable 
trait was his unwavering fidelity to the letter and spirit 
of his word. Once pledged, it was inviolate. Wily sub- 
terfuge or secret treachery to palliate or conceal errors 
of omission or commission were unknown to him. Deceit 
was as foreign to his nature as darkness to sunshine. In 
all things he was "open and above board." Thiswasone 
of the many features governing his public and private 
life that made him the object of such affection and 
esteem as are seldom accorded even to the most deserv- 
ing. Those who knew him best loved him most, and 
their hearts warmed aud faces brightened in the glow of 
his success. 

".Iftcr Ltff'g i^itful irfticr." 

The shadow of grief over his sudden and untimely 
death more than a year ago still saddens the State he 
served so faithfully and which loved him so well. His 
surviving widow (his second wife, daughter of, formerly, 
U. S. Senator Truman Smith) now resides in the delight- 
ful home her devoted husband provided for their joint 
occupancy with the confident expectation of enjoying in 
it the peaceful remainder of their days. In the sorrow 



of her bereavement she has the sympathy of all who 
kuew the subject of this sketch in childhood, boyhood, 
youth, middle or old age. His funeral obsequies were 
attended by a mournful cortege comprised of many of 
the most distinguished and influential men in the vState 
and nation. His remains were committed to earth in the 
cemetery of his native town in ground selected by him- 
self for that special use. It commands an extensive, 
picturesque view of the valley of the Shepaug River and 
the wooded slopes of distant western hills. No "storied 
urn or animated bust" marks his place of sepulture. 
Such memorial emblems are not needed. Indeed, the as- 
surance, for all time, that he "still lives" may as truly 
be said of Orville H. Piatt as of Daniel Webster. 



^:>'^c^ 




"Ye Olden Times" 
"In the Land of Steady Habits" 



By vStani.ev G. Fowi.er. 



Who isn't proud of our New England "Hub." 

Her statues, parks, and lovely urban scenes — 
Boston, where Art refines the daily grub 

And Attic salt pervades the pork and beans — 
Boston, whose Culture is the tumid boast 

Of all who in her stately mansions dwell — 
Boston, where week days Mammon "rules the roast," 

And, Sunday, goes to church— to sleep a spell? 

But sons of old Connecticut proclaim 

Their .State the source of all that's great and true. 
Whether it's bluff or brag, we think the same. 

Though yielding praise wherever praise is due. 
We're glad, for one, our youth was spent "down East, 

Where nutmegs sometimes had a wooden flaw, 
Where tippling cider was — no crime at least — 

Though "licker-drinkin' " was "agin the law." 

Where, Saturday, the clang of village bell 

Tolled forth the .solemn setting of the sun: 
Then youthful play must cease, we knew full well, 

.\nd dreaded vSabbath duties be begun; 
Then laughter fled to more alluring faces 

And rosy cheeks assumed a visage wan. 
When evening found "us sinners" in our places, 

.Studying "The Fall of Adam and of Man." 



22 



Wliere pious parents never "spared the rod," 

But "spoiled the child" with grim, fanatic zeal; 
Where pedants taught with ferule long and broad — 

Just what the tortured martyrs used to feel; 
Where "Money Musk" and vile "Virginia Reel" 

Were giddy dances fraught with every evil; 
Where playing cards was worse than 'twas " to steal 

The livery of Heaven to serve the devil." 

Where clumsy oxen dragged the side-hill plow, 

'Mid stumps and stones that marred their weary toil, 
And farmers earned, with lavish sweat of brow, 

A meager profit from reluctant soil; 
Where parsimony piuched a sixpence till 

It fairly squealed in agony of pain; 
Where " shopping" meant a calico or frill 

Bought or exchanged for hen's eggs freshly lain. 

But from Such elements as these there grew 

A hardy race of brave and stalwart men. 
Whose sons went forth to conquer empires new — 

In the broad West to build up homes again; 
'Twas they who turned the virgin prairie sod, 

Who felled the forest with resounding blows, 
Who fathomed depths that white men ne'er had trod. 

Who made the desert "blossom a.s the rose." 

And other scenes 'tis pleasant to recall. 

Where ' ' steady habits ' ' was the daily rule. 
The village green, the glorious games of ball. 

The spelling contests at the district school; 
And then the girls, who slowly sauntered thence. 

Waiting for beaux (as rustic beauty should) 
Who trailed behind, as if bereft of .sense, 

"Letting I Dare Not — wait upon I Would." 



The apple blooms that thrilled the early Ma}- 

With odors heavenly as an angel's breath; 
The crystal brook, where " speckled beauties" lay 

And coyly caught the hook that lured to death ; 
The pasture green, where stump-tailed Brindle fed 

And vainly kicked at persecuting flies; 
The serenade (when folks had gone to bed) 

That woke the slumbering maid to sweet surprise. 

Thanksgiving, too, when round the festive board 

Mother and chicks and guests were gathered there. 
Waiting till white-haired father read "The Word," 

And asked God's blessing with a reverent air — 
Then what a dinner! Soup to nuts " home-made," 

Turkey, light biscuit, butter that smelled of grass, 
TMckles, preserves, "mashed 'taters," marmalade, 

With pumpkin pie, roast pig and " apple sass." 

Followed by outdoor frolics — girls and boys 

Plunging on sleds and jumpers down the bluff; 
Or indoor sports, made riotous with noise 

Of romping games, wound up with "blind man's buff; 
Or prancing steeds, the joy of jingling bell 

Minghng with shrieks of laughter from Uie sleigh, 
When sirup-titious hugs and kisses tell 

Of momentary raptures on the way. 

How times are changed! 'Tis now the daily strife 

Of selfish greed pursuing wordly gain — 
The glut of gold infecting social life. 

Where worthy manhood seeks to rise in vain. 
Remorsefully we turn from " devious ways" 

To that straight path our fathers firmly trod — 
Those peaceful, healthful, blessed "old-time" days, 

Which filled their hearts with happiness and God. 



NOV 2 1909 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




i» 



LAW REPOHTtn raiMTINO CO., 
WASMINOTON, 0. C 



